is this viable for use of photon? should a game server connect directly or via api?

is this a secure way to use photon?
i'm planning on creating a game the game handles has a masterclient on a hosting site running unity3d with photon that is server sided.
now my question is should i just link it to an api instead of letting a server sided instance of unity connect to a database directly?

basically like this
Unity Instance Server side>API>Database
or
do it directly
Unity Instance Server sided>Database